Star Trek: The Next Generation Lives Again on the Big Screen

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Special event celebrates the arrival of Picard and his crew on Blu-ray.

By Scott Collura

Last night was a great one to be a Trekkie -- Fathom Events hosted a special screening of two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation in movie theaters across the country. This, ahem, enterprising effort was part of the publicity push for the new TNG Season 1 Blu-ray set that goes on sale today, but it was also great fun and a nice reminder of why so many fans learned to love this show when it debuted 25 years ago.

Twenty-five years! I remember watching the series premiere, "Encounter at Farpoint," in the common room at my college dorm (yes, I'm dating myself here), but my younger self certainly couldn't have known then that I'd still be watching, talking about and writing about the adventures of Picard, Riker, Data and the rest all these years later. Well, maybe if a time dilation thingee opened up at the dorm I would've.

Two episodes were screened last night, though longtime fans would be excused if the selected segments elicited a "Huh? They picked those two?" Frankly, Season 1 of The Next Generation is probably the weakest of the show's seven-year run, as the cast were still very much finding their groove even while behind-the-scenes staff changes kept the whole operation off balance. And "Where No One Has Gone Before" and "Datalore," the episodes projected in their brand-new HD re-mastered glory, have never been regarded as highlights of the show -- not even of the first season.

But! It was something else to behold the two segments on the big screen, particularly as I had not seen either of them in years. And the funny thing is, while I expected the more thrills-and-chills prone "Datalore" to be the best part of the evening -- as the loyal android Data meets his nasty brother Lore for the first time -- it was actually "Where No One…" that was the real kick, as the Enterprise travels beyond space, time and thought into another dimension. Or something. (Neither of these episodes were too strong when it came to working out the details of their far-out adventures.)

Seeing TNG big, large and in high-def was quite interesting, as I noticed not just picture details (Tasha, too much makeup! Sliding door, too much paint on your wood surface!) but also directorial choices I didn't recall -- shot composition, lighting, the actors' blocking and more. And, of course, the real reason these two episodes were chosen must also be mentioned: for their visual effects. The far-out otherworld of "Where No One…" and the Crystalline Entity from "Datalore" (the latter being completely recreated for the new Blu-ray) both looked… fine. The bottom line is this is still a TV show from 1987, so the effects are never going to match what our 2012 IMAX 3D-ified eyes are used to.

It was also a new experience watching this show with an audience as Picard and the gang engaged; yes, this show is 25 years old now and no amount of HD rejiggering can fix the unintentional laughs that resulted from, say, that extra who was standing in the Enterprise hallway in his uniform skirt. (Those things never worked out, did they?) Ditto the quirks of dialogue and performance that just don't play today… or play as humorous when they're not at all meant that way. (Though that said, certain inflections or looks from, say, Riker, or Worf, had me chuckling just because they were so those characters, already at this early stage of development.)

Trek stalwarts Mike and Denise Okuda hosted the evening with a couple of pre-recorded bits that were as warm and insightful as you'd expect from the two. And a nice surprise was the inclusion of two behind-the-scenes featurettes from the Blu-ray set which included both archival and modern interviews with the cast and crew. The highlight here was probably the looks at costume tests for most of the main cast, and again I was struck by how much detail you could pick up in high-def -- not to mention the wink in Jonathan Frakes' eye during said tests. Too bad they didn't let him bring some of that charisma to the show in the first season!

Perhaps coolest of all, though, was getting to see the rudimentary hand-drawn animation that was the source of those crewmembers who can be spotted walking around behind the window of the Enterprise in the opening credits sequence. (Diehards know what I'm talking about here.) At that moment, I was already anticipating a Season 2 release and the accompanying nationwide screening. Please Fathom, make it so!